Cameron takes hard line against rioters

LONDON (AP) - Britain's prime minister hammered out a tough line against rioters Wednesday, determined to restore order and confidence on Britain's streets as extra police officers flooded the capital for a second day.

Even as Prime Minister David Cameron promised not to let a "culture of fear" take hold, tensions flared in Birmingham, where a murder probe was opened after three men were killed in a hit-and-run reportedly as they took to the streets to deter potential rioters.

"We needed a fightback and a fightback is under way," Cameron said in a somber televised statement outside his Downing Street office after a meeting of the nation's crisis committee. As if to underline his resolve, he underlined "nothing is off the table" - including water cannon, commonly used in Northern Ireland but never deployed in mainland Britain.

The number of arrests in London alone climbed to 805, with courts staffing around the clock to process alleged looters, vandals and thieves - including one as young as 11. Cameron has recalled Parliament from its summer recess for an emergency debate on the riots Thursday.

Outside the capital, in England's second largest city of Birmingham, police launched a murder investigation into the deaths of three men hit by a car. Residents said the dead men, aged 20 to 31, were members of Birmingham's South Asian communities who had been patrolling their neighborhood to keep it safe from looters.

"They lost their lives for other people, doing the job of the police," said witness Mohammed Shakiel, 34. "They weren't standing outside a mosque, a temple, a synagogue or a church - they were standing outside shops where everybody goes. They were protecting the community."

Tariq Jahan, whose 21-year-old son Haroon was killed, stood in a Birmingham street and pleaded with the South Asian community not to seek revenge against the car's occupants, reported to be black.

"Today we stand here to plead with all the youth to remain calm, for our community to stand united," he said.

"This is not a race issue. The family has received messages of sympathy and support from all parts of the community - all races, all faiths and backgrounds."

He remonstrated with angry young men, urging them to "grow up" and go home.

Chris Sims, chief constable of West Midlands Police, said a man had been arrested on suspicion of murder.

"The information we have at the moment would support the idea that the car was deliberately driven," he said, appealing for calm. "My concern would be that that single incident doesn't lead to a much wider level of distress and even violence between different communities."

The violence has revived debate about the Conservative-led government's austerity measures, which will slash 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) from public spending by 2015 to reduce the country's swollen budget deficit.

Cameron's government has slashed police budgets as part of the cuts. A report last month said the cuts will mean 16,000 fewer police officers by 2015.